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At first, there were the one hundred views of Japan… After we explored these iconic landscapes in a single year and described them in a book in France, we are still sharing travel inspirations focused on Japan. Welcome aboard!

[Heisei#45] A long hike to the inner shrine of Kotohira-gu

Kotohira-gu, also known as Kompira shrine, is a popular touristic spot among Japanese in Kagawa prefecture, Shikoku. And the ancient structure, dedicated to seamanship, is also reputed as one of the harshest climb among the country numerous temples and shrines, with a total of 1368 steps to reach Izutama shrine. Kotohira is of course one of the 100 Heisei landscapes, and features surprisingly a bunch of dogs, two horses and an elephant…

One might also climb to the main gate using a palanquin (5300 yen up, 3200 yen down, and 6800 back and forth).

As many signs as donors to Kotohira shrine.

The original Matl’s Mermaid among many votive paintings, used by the Japanese Kenichi Horie to cross the Pacific Ocean in 1996.

The inner shrine, Izutama’s.

Two real shinme, the god’s horses, are also to be found in the shrine enclosure.

How to get there?

The climb starts about 15 minutes walking from Kotohira train station, on the same line as Okayama‘s one in Honshu. Two main options for the journey: either by JR Nanpu limited express (50 minutes, direct, about 3000 yen) or with local JR trains (1h30/2h, about 1500 yen, with a transfer). Both approach are fully covered by the JR pass.

Some direct buses are also running from Takamatsu airport. About 50 minutes and 1500 yen per person.

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The book

Since the fall of 2018, our adventure around the hundred views had became a book in France. Les cent vues du Japon contains a hundred new text, travel advices and photos to learn more about these iconic sights.

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